Obedience and the Tree of Life

“Blessed are they that do his commandments,that they may have right to the tree of life,and may enter in through the gates into the city.”
Revelation 22:14

Obedience to the will of God is the revelation of His Lordship. Calling upon His Name and then walking in the stubbornness of our own ways is labelled iniquity in the New Testament. Iniquity simply means “self-will”. It is the unbroken, undisciplined and unconquered will of one who claims to be a follower of Christ and yet exhibits all of the traits of the first Adam. We live in a day of a false gospel, a declaration that by simply naming the name of Jesus we have full access to all the promises of God, such is not the truth.

The message of Jesus to the seven churches in the Book of Revelation is consistent… “I know thy works…” It is in what we do wherein we reveal the nature and the spirit in which we walk.

“And why call ye me, Lord, Lord,and do not the things which I say?”
Luke 6:46

Jesus follows this powerful question with the “Parable of the Houses” being built upon rock and upon the sand.

“Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them, I will shew you to whom he is like: He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock.

But he that heareth, and doeth not, is like a man that without a foundation built an house upon the earth; against which the stream did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell; and the ruin of that house was great.”
Luke 6:47-49

How few realize that it is in doing His will wherein the deep foundation of the house is laid! It is in the doing where we discover the true nature of all that we are and run to Him for grace. His will is in itself the very foundation of our salvation. In His will we are confronted with our own stubbornness and we are met with the full knowing of our own weakness and folly. His Will is the cross upon which the horror of self is crucified. They who hear only never come to terms with their true self, they live in a world of teachings, confessions and religious talk without ever venturing into the land of truth. It is WHEN the flood comes that the foundation is discovered and the verity of an individual’s true nature is revealed.

Obedience brings us to the need of the true grace of God, it is no longer a sentient, a catch phrase or a religious cliché; it is the means by which our hearts find the power to submit to His ways and walk in them.

Through disobedience man lost the right and the access to the Tree of Life and it is through the wonder and life of the Son (as expressed in a life of obedience) we gain the right to the Tree of Life and are able to partake of its life giving fruit.

“Blessed are they that do his commandments,that they may have right to the tree of life,and may enter in through the gates into the city.”
Revelation 22:14

The Purpose of Grace

Part Three

Grace is always given with purpose. God’s wisdom and creativity has such abundance that the wonder of His giving exceeds our ability to comprehend it. Lost within its glory is the essential truth of the purpose and design with which it is given.

The generation in which Noah lived was one of violence and great evil.

“And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”
Genesis 6:5

It was in this context that the life of Noah shone into the surrounding darkness.

Grace given is revealed in the life lived.

“Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations,and Noah walked with God”
Genesis 6:9

The measure of Grace received is revealed in corresponding measure in our daily walk. Grace is the very power of God to bring us to the reservoir of His enablement to live and walk beyond our own miserable resources.

“Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling,not according to our works,but according to his own purpose and grace,which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began…”
2 Timothy 1:9

Whenever and wherever God’s people disassociate Grace from Purpose there is a falling short of the call of God. Any ministration that presents grace separately from the bonds of a “holy calling” are misrepresenting the very heart and purpose of God Himself!

The end of God’s grace in Noah’s life is succinctly revealed as a testimony for us in our day.

“Thus did Noah;according to all that God commanded him,so did he”
Genesis 6:22

Thought for Today

Comfort in Distress

“If I walk in the midst of distress Thou revives me…”
Psalm 138:7

Trouble and distress is often the precursor to glory. Our heavenly Father’s purpose is to bring “many sons to glory”. He who “spared not His Son” on our behalf will not spare His rod and His staff from the lives of those who have purposed to know Him. In our distresses we become focused and aware of the eternal issue; to know and honor God. It is in the press where the grapes are squeezed, the spices are crushed and the pride of man is broken. These are the times that the vision of a true soul sees with the most clarity and the vanity of life is exposed. The fine wine is brought to maturity, the bouquet is sweetened and the flavor is deepened and refined as the dregs of self are removed. That which was once bitter is made sweet by the gracious work of God. In His economy the best wine is always brought out at the last to glorify the wonder of the work of the Son. The waters in the earthen pot have been transformed into the wine of the Spirit for others to drink and be refreshed.

The quickening and reviving work of God is ever in the midst of the trial. In our holding fast to Him the storm inevitably gives way to the calm. That which has been torn will be restored; that which has been driven by the wind will find the harbor of His peace and security. Grey and angry skies will clear and the deep blue face of heaven will be more serene than ever before.

Do not fear the storms for He who knows our frame and our fragility also knows how to keep His own within the everlasting arms.

“O bless our God, ye people, and make the voice of his praise to be heard:

The Purpose of Grace

Part 2

“Whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of his power.”
Ephesians 3:7

God gives grace with intention and purpose. Grace given corresponds to the evidential working of His power within the life of the one to whom it is given. Paul states here “whereof I was MADE a minister (a definite expression of God) according (in proportion) to the GIFT” given. This then is the revelation of His Grace received. It is to this end that we are recipients of the unmerited Grace of God: that such a precious commodity will show forth the effect of his power in our lives. Grace given does not always result in its desired end, which is why diligence, faithfulness and the fear of the Lord are the healthy responses to the giver of all good things.

“But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me”
1Corinthians 15:10

The “laboring more abundantly” is the fruit of true grace received. Grace always desires to glorify and honor the ONE from whom it comes. From Genesis to Revelation we see the effectual working in the lives of those to whom God invested His Grace.

“But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord”
Genesis 6:8

The Prophets in the Old Testament prophesied of this Grace that should come…

“Of which salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you”
1Peter 1:10

The power of this New Covenant declares that this GRACE has come unto His Own in the ministration and life of the Son. Shall we not yield ourselves fully to the working out of this grace in each of our hearts? Let us embrace the “laboring” of love in our hearts in response to such beauty and unmerited favor.

We must consider that Jesus Christ left the splendor of Heaven, laid aside His equality with God and humbled Himself as a servant, even to the scandal and humiliation of the cross. How did this wonder occur? BY GRACE…

“But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man”
Hebrews 2:9

The very Son of God came into this dark world divesting Himself of all deity to do the Will of the Father by Grace. Shall not we, who are the true heirs of “so great a salvation”, fully yield ourselves to the deposit of Grace given to each of us?

“But unto EVERY ONE of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ”
Ephesians 4:7

May His Church rise up in the acknowledging of this powerful and precious truth!

THE PURPOSE OF GRACE

“…and His grace toward me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me”
I CORINTHIANS 15:10

God’s Grace is not a sentiment but a power. Grace, as with everything in God, is given with purpose and intention. We see here in Corinthians that the REASON Paul laboured so abundantly was BECAUSE of the Grace of God that was with Him. Its purpose is to produce within us a life that reveals God’s salvation, His life, and His righteousness. Grace received which does not bring forth an ardent pursuit of the Living Christ, a labouring in the ministration of His Life, and a salvation that produces a life of a growth in righteousness is a grace that has been received in vain.

“For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts,
we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world”
TITUS 2:11 – 12

This same Grace which brings salvation into the life of every believer is the SAME Grace that “teaches us to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts” and enables us that we should live “righteously and godly in this PRESENT world!” How we misrepresent God when Grace is presented as a sentiment with no correlation to living a life of righteousness in this present world. The grace of God has appeared to ALL MEN but its efficacy and power is known only in those who reveal it by the life they live.

We read here that that Grace produced within Paul a labouring and a life of strenuous discipleship for he was empowered by the grace of God that was working with (syn – Greek Word) him to the Glory of God.

“We then, as workers together with him, beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain”
II CORINTHIANS 6:1

The Glory of the New Testament is that Jesus HAS COME and IS COME. He is at work within our hearts by the means of HIS Grace to bring forth in us a “working out of our own salvation”because He is ever “working in us” a will to do His Will!

“…work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure”
PHILLIPIANS 2:12 – 13

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“Grace is but Glory begun, and Glory is but Grace perfected.”
Johnathan Edwards